How The Mighty Fall (In Love)
by Zeprithy
Summary: When Kano fails to complete his role in an infiltration mission, Kido becomes suspicious. When he later has a coughing fit and collapses in the middle of aforementioned mission, she starts to become concerned. Then, when Kano turns out to be so ill that even his ability is fading, she can't help but wonder why she always let herself get lugged with looking after the idiot.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The guard went down with a much heavier thump than seemed befitting of his size. Kido cursed under her breath as she heard more making their way down the hallway, their clumsy footsteps echoing off the terrazzo tiles like a herd of uncoordinated elephants. Wasn't Kano meant to be dealing with those ones?

But Kido didn't have time to think about what the blond had been doing instead of taking out the guards, because the footsteps were getting louder and she knew any second now the group was going to show up. She nudged the man on the floor with her foot and, when there was no response, bent down to slip the security card out of his shirt pocket. A quick scan over the plastic confirmed it was what she had been looking for. _Bingo. Now I just need to find Kano and we can-_

"Hey! You, over there!"

_Well, shit._

She didn't stop to think before activating her eye power and sprinting down the corridor. But even with her concealment, most of the men were too focused on her to be deterred, and soon enough she could hear the chorus of footsteps behind her again. Shouts of, "Stop!" and, "Grab him!" got closer with every ragged breath Kido took, but she didn't let herself focus on them. Instead, she listened to the steady beat coming from her headphones, letting the music drown out the men's shouts as she turned sharply turned a corner.

When the guards swung around the same corner, they were greeted with an empty corridor.

"What the…"

"I could have sworn he went this way!"

"What the hell were you guys even chasing? I didn't see anything."

"No, there was this scary looking guy in a big hoodie, I swear."

"Maybe he went down this way?"

"Yeah- that must be it!"

The group went bumbling round the next corner, shouting blindly into the empty building for the thief. Meanwhile, throat dry and hands sweaty, Kido pushed herself against the door of the supply closet and exhaled shakily.

"That was way too close…"

Kido's knees wobbled for a moment before she gave in and let herself slide down to the floor. Her heartbeat thrummed in her ears, so loud she worried it might lead the guards straight to her. Either that or burst out of her chest. Both options sounded equally unappealing.

The supply closet wasn't in any way spacious, but Kido was more grateful for its fortunate location than she could say. She didn't dare to find a light switch, scared any light leaking out into the hallway might alert someone to her presence there, so she pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it up to inspect the space instead. There wasn't anything of interest: a few shelves of cleaning fluids and sprays; a hazardously piled assortment of various sizes of paper; miscellaneous office products that looked like they were last used twenty years ago, etc. etc. Kido spun her phone screen back around to her once she realised she wasn't going to find anything important there. She sighed.

It had been Kano's job to take out those guards. While Kido got a hold of the security card, Kano was meant to deceive the other ones patrolling into seeing him as one of the staff members. Then, when they were lulled into a false sense of security, Kano was going to knock them out and come back to meet up with her.

So why hadn't that happened?

Kano may have been known as the idiot of the group, and it was true that he never seemed to take anything seriously, but he could be reliable when he needed to be. If Kano had failed his part of the mission, there must have been a serious reason for it.

**Message Sent: 23:45, Today**

**Kano, where the hell are you? Why didn't you deal with the guards? Are you okay?**

Kido frowned at her phone screen once the 'Message Confirmed' notification disappeared. _Kano… _

She couldn't leave the building without him. Kido knew that much. But should she wait here, or go out searching for him? If she used her ability, she should be able to sneak past most of the guards… but now he might be looking for her too, so-

The phone buzzed.

**Message Received: 23:49, Today**

**From: Kisaragi Momo**

**Leader, when are you going to get back? Did the mission go okay? ** **Stay safe! You can do it! xx**

Kido could feel her face fall as she read the text. It was just Kisaragi. Not Kano. As sweet as it was of her to have sent a message checking they were okay, Kido couldn't help but wish the girl had just kept silent.

_It's not Kisaragi's fault Kano's an idiot, _she reminded herself. Right. It was Kano who had messed up somehow, and, as always, it seemed like it was going to be her job to fix it.

After waiting for another few minutes for Kano to reply to her text, Kido realised the chances were that he was genuinely unable to answer. Which meant he could be being held captive, or even lying unconscious somewhere. Great.

_That's unlike him, though, _she mused. Even if Kano wasn't the best in terms of physical strength, he was quick and light on his feet, and even Kido had to admit he was one of the most dexterous members of the group. None of them had ever gotten caught on a mission before- although they had come very close, granted; why the hell would Kano, of all people, be the first person to mess up like that?

Kido's train of thought was interrupted by the sudden twist of the door handle behind her. It creaked, the sound as loud as an airplane jet in the enclosed space of the closet, but all she could hear was the panicked voice in the back of her head chanting _shit, shit, shit, shit. _How the hell had they found her already!?

When the door opened and the guard's face appeared, Kido realised just how strong the fight-or-flight instinct was.

She stood up and lunged forward in one movement, hand yanking the man into the closet by the collar as she slammed the door shut with her shoulder. He yelped, opening his mouth to say something- shout for help, beg for mercy, who knows- but Kido forced him into the wall before he could say anything. While she pressed her hand over his mouth to keep him quiet, she used the other to rummage in her hoodie for a pocketknife.

The guard didn't seem to be getting the message. He kept on moving, even when Kido pressed her arm right across his throat, and he was still trying to speak despite Kido's best attempts to quiet him.

"For God's sake," she hissed, snapping her head back around to face the man, "would you just shut u-"

He sneezed.

Kido flinched and drew back on reflex, grimacing at the mucus now clinging to her hand. It was only when she realised the guard was free and jolted to hold him back again that she realised who he was.

"_Kano!?_"

The absolute idiot just sniffled. It was difficult to see him in the darkness of the closet, but that was definitely Kano. His eyes were gleaming red, after all. "Jeez, that hurt, Kido," he whined.

Kido had so many questions to ask that she didn't know where to begin. She let go of Kano like her hands were burning, letting him drop to the floor pitifully. "Why were- where- what-"

He chuckled, but she couldn't help but notice it sounded hoarse. "Sorry, sorry. I should explain, shouldn't I?"

"Why are your eyes red?" Why _that _question, of all of them, managed to get through, Kido didn't know.

In the near pitch black closet, it was difficult to see anything, but the crimson of his eyes practically glowed. The last time Kido had seen Kano with his eyes activated was back when they first lived in Ayano's house, before any of them managed to control their powers. Of course, she wasn't naive enough to think Kano wasn't using his ability; he just concealed the red eyes along with whatever image he was propping up. It irritated her, but there wasn't anything Kido could do about it. Now, though… why was he letting his eyes show red now?

He blinked at her. "They are?" Frowning, Kano squinted a little, the bridge of his nose wrinkling up, but nothing happened. "Uh, I don't know, actually," he admitted, still frowning.

_That _was worrying. "Can't you hide it?"

"Apparently not. Hey, we should get out of here. I'll explain what happened later. As much as I love being trapped in a dark closet with Kido-" she kicked him "-ouch! Okay, okay, I deserved that. As I was saying, as lovely as this situation is, I don't really think the enemy's supply closet is the best place to be having a little night talk, do you?" He paused, eyebrows raised. "Did you get the card?"

"… Yeah, I did." _No thanks to you. _"Fine. But I still expect an explanation later."

He waved her off, but then brought the hand to his mouth and winced. "Right," he managed after a while, standing up shakily with his hand still at his mouth. Then, blinking rapidly, he looked over to Kido and beamed. His eyes were as bright as fire. "Let's go, shall we?"

She stared at him. There was _definitely _something wrong with Kano. Even when he was clearly using his ability to conceal the extent of whatever this was, its effect was worryingly strong. It was even more concerning to think about how bad it was when Kano wasn't trying to hide it.

Still, arguing about it there wasn't going to help. Kido could confront Kano about whatever was wrong with him once they got out of here. It could wait.

The door clicked open quietly, just far enough to let Kido scan the hallway. It was all clear so far, and she couldn't even hear the security guards fumbling about anymore. With any luck, they'd manage to get out without any more complications.

She padded tentatively out of the closet, plucking her earphones out of her ears just to check that she couldn't hear anyone nearby. When only silence rang out, she beckoned for Kano to come out with her hand and stepped over to the end of the hallway. A quick glance down there made it obvious it was empty too.

"Alright, I'll activate my ability in a minute just in case," said Kido, eyes scanning over the area while she waited for Kano to make his way over to her. "It should hide both of us, but you might want to turn on yours just in case we get split up." When she realised Kano hadn't said anything for a while, she turned around, only to blink at the empty space behind her. "Kano?"

"C-Coming, Leader!" The reply came from inside the closet. Kano came stumbling out, hands clinging to the doorframe as he squinted at the light in the hallway. "Sorry, I got a little distract… distracted… " He swayed for a moment, blinking, then collapsed in a coughing fit. He leaned on the wall to the point that he ended up sliding down it, getting left spluttering on the floor feebly.

"K-Kano!" Kido was at his side in a second, one had on his back as the blond's eyes watered with the force of the fit. He was _ill. Of course._ _How did I not realise that before? _That must have been the reason he had failed to take out the security as well. Even with Kano's eyes being scrunched closed, she could make out the flickering of red behind his eyelids; he couldn't control his power when he was ill. God, she should have known.

"Hey, can you hear that?"

_No, no, not now, please. _

"Is it the thieves?"

"Fuck, it came from over there. Let's go check it out."

Why the hell did the security guards have to turn up now, of all times? Kido hissed, head jolting around to see where the voices were coming from, but Kano was hacking too loudly for her to be able to tell. "We've got to move, Kano," she urged. "Can you stand up?"

He managed to squint through his eyes just enough for Kido to see a flash of red. It took about a second for Kano to straighten up completely, all traces of the coughing fit gone. "Of course, Kido!" he said brightly, grinning. "Why would I not be? I was m-merely-"

His words dissolved into another cluster of hacks. The image he had been trying to project went along with it, leaving behind the pale, shaking Kano that Kido had to accept was reality.

She didn't have time for this. Ignoring his weak protests, Kido bent down in front of Kano and slung his arms around her shoulders, hitching him up so that she was carrying him on her back. He whined and tried to move away, but his movements were barely strong enough for Kido to feel them, let alone actually get him away from her.

At the end of the hallway, a guard came strolling around the corner, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Kido and Kano. For a second, the three of them just froze. Then all hell broke loose.

Another four guards came bursting around the corner, pulling guns out of their holsters when they spotted the teenagers. The first guard swore and fumbled for his gun too, but it slipped from his fingers and went tumbling to the ground, where it cracked on the floor and went off with a _bang _that ricocheted around the hallway. The bullet hit the ceiling light, sending sparks of electricity falling to the ground. The light bulb flickered feebly for a few moments before going out, leaving the corridor in darkness with only the distinct smell of burning and five very confused guards yelling and shouting.

By this point, however, Kido was already darting through the doors at the other end. Her muscles ached with the effort of both running and carrying Kano at the same time, but she didn't dare take even a second to breathe. That second could very easily cost both of their lives right now, and that was really not a possibility Kido wanted to ponder on.

She found herself wishing, absurdly, that she had put her earphones back in. The sound of her own stumbling footsteps and the guards calling out behind her weren't the most comforting of soundtracks to listen to.

"Shoot them!"

"I can't see where the fuck they are-"

"Then use your torch, moron!"

Kido rounded around the next corner and cursed at the fully functioning light flooding the corridor with light. She took a second- just a second- to flick the light switch off with her forehead, before taking off again down the passage. When the guards came rushing round a few seconds afterwards, they didn't bother to check if the light was actually broken. Kido could hear them complaining about the 'fucking electricity system' as they fumbled for their torches. _Idiots. _

"Kido…" The mumble was barely audible amongst everything else that was flooding her ears. "Kido, turn right." Kano sneezed again. She pushed down the urge to drop him.

"W-What?" she managed between breaths. "The entrance is right ther-"

"There are… more guards… waiting."

Kido faltered. Even if that was true, the sight of the entrance was so damn _hopeful. _As soon as she got away from the facility and into any sort of public street, they'd be safe. Kido gave one last desperate look to the double doors before grimacing and turning the corner. "You better know what you're doing, Kano."

She could feel him nod into her neck. "Mmhm. Second door on the right."

Kido opened her mouth to question him, but then shut it when she heard the trampling of the guards getting louder. There was no time to mistrust him.

Just as the door closed shut behind her, she heard one of the guards run out the entrance and crow, "We've got you now, you little brat." The rest of them followed after like sheep, bleating empty threats and jests until the doors finally closed on the last one. The building went silent again.

When Kido let go of the door handle and collapsed, dropping Kano in an undignified manner on the floor, it was only a wonder how she had managed to keep standing for so long. She bent over, gasping for air, but her throat was dry and every breath felt like swallowing sandpaper. _In, out, in, out, _she thought to herself, staring at her hands sitting clenched in her lap determinedly.

Once she had enough oxygen to stop her head spinning, Kido looked up to check on Kano. He was curled up on the floor, back to her, but he didn't look like he was shaking anymore.

"Kano?" There wasn't a response. Frowning, Kido shuffled over to his side on her knees and leaned over to see his face. His eyes were closed, mouth half-open in a slack relaxation of muscles, and his skin had gone as white as chalk. She said his name again, but he didn't even flinch.

Swallowing down a groan, Kido looked up to observe the new room they had escaped to. It only looked like some generic office, with another door on the opposite side of the room that could, from the look of the window, lead outside.

Kido slipped her phone out of her pocket and dialed Kisaragi's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey-"

"Ah, Leader!? Guys, it's Kido!" There was a general sound of greetings and questions in the background from who Kido assumed was the rest of the Mekakushi Dan. Kisaragi hushed them before speaking up again, "What's up? Have you finished the mission yet?"

"That's why I'm calling, actually. There was a… complication."

Kido could practically hear the frown from the other end of the phone. "A complication? What do you mean?"

"It's because of an idiot."

There was a pause. Then: "Oh. Right." The girl sighed. "What's he done?"

"He's got some sort of illness. I don't know if it's a cold or the flu or something else, but whatever it is, it's stopping him from using his ability properly."

"Eh? But Kano's always able to use his ability…"

"I know. He's passed out right now, but when he was awake his image kept on flickering on and off, and he couldn't even conceal the red from his eyes when he was trying to deceive me."

"Jeez, that's not good."

"Yeah. I've been carrying him, but he's heavier than he looks and I don't know how much longer I can travel with him. There are guards on our trail, so-"

"So you need us to come help you out, right?"

Kido flushed. That was exactly what she called for, but hearing the words said so shamelessly stung her pride a little. "Yeah. Please."

"Don't worry, Leader! We'll be there quicker than you can say Mekameka Dan, just hold tight."

Kido chuckled at the mistake, but she didn't bother to correct it. "Right. Thanks."

With a final goodbye, the phone clicked off, leaving Kido alone in the room with the unconscious mass otherwise known as Kano. She sighed.

"I can't believe you got us into this mess…" she muttered, shaking her head as she looked down at the blond.

His breaths were light and rapid, punctuated with heaving coughs every few seconds, but there was something in his face that made him look remarkably… unguarded. Exposed. Vulnerable, even. It was unnerving, to say the least.

"I still expect that explanation when you wake up, you know." Unsurprisingly, he didn't reply to that.

Kido let out a long, long breath and banged the back of her head against the side of the desk, but Kano just coughed beside her. It was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kano Shuuya was approximately 98% sure he was dying.

(The other 2% said that he was already dead, and what he was in fact going through was some twisted version of hell, but he thought the former was more likely.)

Groaning, Kano curled further into himself and tried to pretend that he liked the way the world was spinning around him. It didn't work. It felt like he was on some sort of broken fairground ride that had gone very, very wrong. Every time he opened his eyes, the walls seemed to shift up and down, up and down, left and right, round and round and round until his head started to spin and he started heaving again. Somehow he managed to find a plastic bowl in front of him every time this happened.

(Whilst his unawareness of how this bowl came to be confused Kano slightly, he had concluded not to fret over it too much until his nerves came back to him. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?)

In between alternating fits of coughing, sneezing and throwing up, Kano had actually dedicated very little time to observing his surroundings. It was pretty difficult to analyse the room you were in when you spent most of your time either fading in and out of consciousness or excreting bodily fluids in one way or another. Still, he was pretty sure he was in his bedroom. Exactly _how _he had come to be in his bedroom: he didn't know. And that was what worried him.

Every time he tried to recall the events leading up to him shivering and coughing his lungs up in bed, Kano's head would turn to muffled static. It was irritating and, honestly, unnerving. Kano Shuuya didn't forget things; the fact that he was suddenly missing such a huge part of his memory was concerning at best. (Of course, if Momo or Kido or one of the other members of the Mekakushi Dan heard him thinking that, they'd probably burst out in laughter. _'Kano, you're always forgetting things,_' they'd say. Of course they would.)

Kano frowned into his pillow as he tried to recall the previous day's events, the memories coming back to him in a clipped, hazy collection of images and sounds that were doing absolutely nothing to help with his headache. _Concentrate, Kano, concentrate. _There was something he had agreed to do with Kido, definitely. What was it, though?

He opened his eyes for a brief moment, blinking blearily at his bedpost as though the answer would somehow come to him by examining the metal. Another wave of nausea hit him like a tsunami and he buried his head back into the fabric of the pillow.

_Did I say I'd go shopping? No, no… it had been really late…_

A voice was mumbling somewhere beside him, separate from Kano's own but too quiet to make out. Or maybe it was just that he couldn't hear it over the static his mind seemed intent on forming. It seemed familiar, somehow, but-

"Kano, c'mon, you have to drink something."

_Oh, it's Leader, _Kano realised, somewhat belatedly. He didn't move his head, preferring the dark blankness of his pillowcase to the thought of confronting the far too bright, loud world._ What's she doing here?_

Again, another realisation came to him with the sound of Kido's voice: he had been on a mission with her. Not shopping. It had been a stupid thing, low security and everything, just to get a hold of a certain security card to use on a later job. Of course, of course, how could he have forgotten? Kido was going to go on her own, at first, but Kano had refused and insisted on going with her for 'extra safety' like the idiot he was.

_Stupid, stupid._

The memories that had been so withdrawn before were flowing back rapidly, from his initial naive thoughts of 'Oh, it's just a cold' to the coughing fit he had had in front of the guards that had ruined his disguise and led to him messing up the entire goddamn thing. God, it was all so predictably _stupid. _He should have known better, really, but when had he ever done anything sensible in his life?

Something about this recollection made Kano even more determined to keep from looking up at Kido. How long had she been by his bed? Actually, how long had _he _been in his bed? The hours and minutes all seemed to blend together like a muddy paint palette. He swallowed down a groan at the thought of Kido having seen him in this state for any number of seconds, but for all he knew, it could have been days since that mission had failed.

His reverie was broken when that oh-so-familiar tickle in his throat started to creep up again, brushing against his windpipe chokingly. When he started to instinctively splutter, he knew his time of avoiding Kido's gaze was up.

Kano forced himself upright with a start, hacking into cupped hands with watering, scrunched up eyes. It was a dry, scratching sort of cough. Every breath rattled about in his chest before coming up in an awful sounding wheeze, and the jagged movements were making his head spin all over again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was distantly aware of a soothing hand on his back, rubbing soft circles as the coughs receded, but most of that was lost in the way his chest flared with every breath.

This went on for what felt like hours. When the fit was finally over, Kano dropped back down onto his pillow and curled up with a muffled whine. _God, how pathetic. _The thought of using his eye ability hadn't even occurred to him during that entire episode- another worrying thing. Kano had been able to use his eye ability when he had been injured before with ease, but he couldn't manage to think about it with a little cough? That wasn't good.

"Oi, Kano, you have to drink something or you'll just feel worse."

He had blindly hoped that Kido might have just left by now, but apparently not. _Maybe, if I just ignore her, she'll think I fell asleep._

"Kano… Come on, it's just a little bit of water."

Her tone was practically dripping in unspoken concern. God, hearing Kido like that was worse than the coughing.

"… Please?"

_The things I do for you, Kido._

Kano took a moment to breathe in, to activate his eyes, to compose a perfect image of normality before he rolled over and grinned as best he could at the green-haired girl. His own grin felt weak and faltering, but his eyes could make up for that nicely. The familiar feeling of warmth flooding his irises stang.

The image almost faltered when his gaze flickered over her. Although Kano imagined he probably looked awful, at least he had the excuse of currently being in the process of very-most-likely-dying. Kido, as far as he was aware, had none of the privilege, and that only gave more reason for him to worry about the unnatural grey tone to her skin her skin held, or the way the dark circles seemed to hang under her eyes like they'd been there for years.

The two of them blinked at each other for a moment. Then Kano sneezed and Kido's face fell.

"Stop trying to use your ability, idiot," she muttered, passing him over a box of tissues with a roll of her eyes. Kano took it gratefully, sniffing, before realising what she had said.

"Haha, what do you mean, Kido?" he said, forcing a chuckle. It came out sounding more like a rusty door hinge than any kind of laugh. When he upped the exertion on his fake, cheerful image, his eyes burnt. "I wasn't using my abili-"

"You're still doing it!"

Her voice was so sharp it almost made Kano wince. It was only when she recoiled at his movement that he realised he had let it show through his mask.

Something on his face must have shown his confusion, because Kido sighed and said, "Your eyes keep on changing between red and yellow. You're not very good at lying when you're sick, apparently."

A coil of ice twisted itself in his gut. Desperately, he tried to hide the scarlet in his eyes, just like he always did, but instead his stomach flip upside down and he found himself doubling over in pain. Kido beside him in an instant, frantically asking what was wrong, but Kano didn't trust himself to open his mouth without throwing up. Luckily, Kido seemed to understand what his head shaking meant, because she quickly brought a plastic bowl in front of him and gave a gentle pat on the back before shuffling a bit away.

Kano wasn't sure was stung more: his throat or his pride.

When he finished choking out the contents of his stomach (who knew how he even had anything in there anymore, considering the last time he had eaten or drank anything was the night before the mission), he put the bowl on the floor shakily and threw himself back over to the other side of the mattress. His head hurt like a bitch; his throat felt like it had been sandpapered; every breath he took had to fight through a bucketload of mucus and, worst of all, Kido was right here to see every instant of his magnificent, snivelling self as he fell further and further downwards. He didn't even have the comfort of his ability to mask his patheticness, since that seemed intent on breaking every two seconds.

_Ah, this really is the worst. Maybe I can just smother myself in one of these pillow and suffocate to death. _That would be a much more peaceful way to die than what he was going through now. It would save him the shame of needing to look Kido in the eyes again too.

"You okay?" Speak of the devil. Kano very purposefully rolled himself around so he was facing the wall, trying to pretend that the heat rushing to his face was entirely the illness and not at all embarrassment. Kido exhaled. "Kano, would you stop ignoring me? I'm trying to help."

"I'm sure Leader has a lot more important things to do," he managed to croak out in reply, still steadily focused on the blank off-white of his wall. "I'll be fine after some rest. It's just a little cold, that's all…!"

"You've been 'resting' for two days now and you still look terrible," Kido stated bluntly.

_Well, at least I know how long I've been out for now, _Kano rationalised after the initial shock of the comment passed. Although, to be honest, he was beginning to think it would be better to have the blind ignorance of being able to pretend he had only been like this for a few hours.

"Ouch, Kido, that hurts," he tried to joke, but the words caught in his throat and turned into a cough. He spluttered and hissed for a few seconds before managing to force it down, swallowing hard. "You don't look too good yourself, you know."

"I'm fine."

"You look tired."

"I'm fine. Worry about yourself first."

He gave an exaggerated sigh that reignited the tickle in his throat again, but he ignored it in favour of tossing a glance over his shoulder. Kido had relocated back to her seat, and was now sitting with her legs propped up on the edge of Kano's bed, arms crossed tightly across her chest. She didn't look at all impressed by his weak glare. "Kano, you passed out on the mission and you've spent the past two days coughing your lungs up," she said. "Not to mention the fact that you've lost control of your ability… Look, I'm going to look after you until you're at least slightly better, alright? You can grumble all you want, but I'm not going to leave you."

Kano wilted under the intensity of her stare. He opened his mouth to protest, but no words came to fruition, and soon enough he just closed it again and went back to observing the wall. There was a particularly interesting brown stain in the shape of a sheep near the window, he noted. And there was that one that looked like a sword. And a pineapple. Huh.

"Have you always…" At the sound of Kido talking again, Kano rolled back onto his back. He had to bite on his tongue when his head ached from the movement. Once his mind cleared somewhat, he looked back over at Kido questioningly.

"Always what, Kido?"

She held his gaze for a moment, expression unreadable, but then she turned to the side and murmured, "Nothing. You should drink something."

"Eh? Wh-" At the narrowing of Kido's eyes, he hastily reached over and went to take a sip of the water she was holding out, not particularly eager to face her wrath for refusing again. It tasted like mud on his tongue. "There," he said afterwards,"I'm fine, see? Anyway, what were you going to ask?"

She just shook her head, avoiding his gaze now. "Nothing. It wasn't important."

That just made Kano even more suspicious, but he was hardly in the position to be interrogating anyone right now. He'd wait until he could at least stand without falling over immediately, maybe.

Instead, giving one last, purposefully extended yawn, Kano nestled himself in the corner of his bed and let his eyes slip close. Behind him, he could hear Kido tapping something into her phone.

"… Hey, Kido."

"Mm? What is it?"

"What does everyone else know about this?"

"'This'?" The confusion in her voice was practically palpable. Kano held back a groan.

"Ah, don't make me say it out loud, now…"

"Wh- oh. Right. Uh, everyone knows you've got some sort of bug, but Seto's the only one I've let come into your room. I figured you wouldn't want everyone to see you like this, right?"

He let out a weak chuckle. "I'd rather you didn't either, to be honest. Thank you, though."

There was a long, stifled silence. For a while, Kano just let it sit, waiting for Kido to reply. After so long, though, he realised that was probably the conversation finished and decided to give into the shaky unconsciousness that had been calling for him since he woke up.

It was only then that Kido spoke up again. "You act like a complete idiot, you know that?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know, Kido." _Trust me, I know._

And, with that, he fell into a very light, very restless sleep. _At least it can't get much worse, _he concluded drearily.


End file.
